On Camp With Ashton

6 Aug 2015

As if winning a global title wasn’t already good enough, these five deserving winners were chosen by no one less than decathlon world record holder Ashton Eaton to join him for a three-day training camp in Eugene next March. Remember their names!

Maribel Vanessa Caicedo

Creating history to win Ecuador’s first gold medal in the history of the IAAF World Youth Championships, Caicedo’s success in the girls’ 100m hurdles final was predicted by few. Wiping 0.45 from her lifetime best during the course of the championships the 17-year-old overcame a cautious start in the final to stop the clock in a stunning 13.04 and climb to number four on the girls’ all-time lists for the event.

Candace Hill

The fastest girl of all-time cemented her rising status with a stunning 100m and 200m double in Cali. The 16-year-old American – who posted a head-turning world youth best of 10.98 in Seattle in June in the lead up to Cali – ran a championship best of 11.08 to land the 100m before claiming a world youth best time of 22.43 to take out the 200m.

Possessing a radiant personality to match her very fast legs, the future of this hugely exciting Georgian high school student is awaited with huge anticipation.

Niklas Kaul

Boom! With one monster javelin throw of 78.20m Niklas Kaul clinched a back-from-the-dead victory in an enthralling boys’ decathlon. The tall German, who had made NINE successive first time clearances in the high jump, sat in fifth place after day one. However, his designs on gold appeared to lie in shreds after he lost precious time in the 110m hurdles after crashing through the first barrier.

Nonetheless, he maintained his composure and that mighty javelin throw – he is the number one ranked youth in the world in that event – helped propel him to a stunning win.

Salwa Eid Naser

The tough-as-teak sprinter from Bahrain, competing in a hijab, produced a tactically mature race to gun down American Lynna Irby and strike gold in the girls’ 400m in a stunning new personal best of 51.50, which doubled as a World Junior and World Youth leading time.

Winner of a Youth Olympic 400m silver medal in Nanjing last year, the 17-year-old credits the work of her coach, Yanko Bratanov, plus a new attitude to the sport which includes daily push-ups and sit-ups as key to her success.

Werner Visser

Coming into the champs, the boys’ discus looked like an exciting head-to-head battle between Visser and Sweden’s Wictor Petersson. It was Visser who kept his cool in the Colombian heat and produced a huge 64.24m throw in the third round, while his challenger had to endure one of his worst days in the office.

Visser's winning throw put him almost four metres clear of the rest of the field and he took home South Africa’s first discus gold in the history of the championships.